Sharing genealogy resources and local history tidbits for Kalamazoo, Michigan and the surrounding area.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Devil in the White City

I recently finished reading Erik
Larson's book, “The Devil in the White City,” about the 1893
World's Fair in Chicago. I know, I know, it has nothing to do with
Kalamazoo. However, reading about the fair made we wonder if any of
my people traveled to Chicago to wander the Midway, stroll the paths
of the wooded island, gaze in wonder at the beautiful white city or
take a ride on the first Ferris Wheel.

Now, you can actually check to see if any of your Kalamazoo folk went to Chicago and stayed at the Kalamazoo Columbian House. The Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society has indexed the guest book and added the names (you can click to view the actual image) to their online database. While you can't check this index separately from the other items in their database, you just might find something else of interest while you are there. To start your search click here.

Despite the tough times sweeping the
country in the early 1890s (failing banks and increasing
unemployment), many people made the trip to Chicago anyway.
Attendees were awed by the sheer size of some of the buildings.
Larson described the clock tower within the Manufactures and Liberal
Arts building. It stood about 100 feet tall, its face seven feet
wide. Yet the top of the clock remained over 100 feet from the
arched glass roof. The peristyle hall and the other buildings
gleamed in the sun and provided a lovely contrast to the varied
shades of blue of Lake Michigan.

The story of the fair and the
difficulties overcome to build it was intriguing. In addition,
Larson provides us with a sense of what walking around Chicago or any
other city must have been like at that time, from the stench of
garbage (and worse in areas without sewers) to the marvel of electric
lights which lit up the park at night (gas lamps were used
elsewhere).

Another relatively new phenomenon was
single, young women moving away from home to try their luck in the
big city. Unfortunately, some of them encountered a man whose story
is also chronicled in the book. He was an attractive young man who
also happened to be a serial killer who particularly preyed on naïve
young women. A few young ladies from my family tree actually did go
to Chicago and elsewhere to earn teaching credentials. Reading this
book made me wonder how they adjusted to life in the big city after
having lived in sleepy Kalamazoo.

In addition to these two stories,
Larson tells many interesting little tidbits of information and drops
names of people tangentially related to the fair. One example was
Elias Disney (yes THAT Disney). Elias, father of Walt and Roy,
helped construct some of the buildings. Larson suggests that his
stories of the beauty of the buildings at the fair may have
influenced the vision that eventually resulted in Walt Disney World.

This book has a little something for
everyone. From architecture to Chicago history, from the story of a
psychopath to a slice of life in the early 1890s you are sure to
learn something new. If you haven't read this book (and are actually
reading this blog) I think you'll find it a worthwhile read.

From Wikipedia. This media file is
in the public
domain in the United
States. This applies to U.S. works where the
copyright has expired, often because its first publication
occurred prior to January 1, 1923. See this
page for further explanation.

2 comments:

Sonja, isn't that a great book? A salesman from B&N recommended it to me last year. Perfect one to read, because my 2nd great grandparents were living in Chicago at that time, and I kept wondering if they went. He was the 1st librarian at the new Newberry Library in Chicago.

Yes, I really enjoyed it. I heard an interview with Larson on the radio and bought the book based on that. Living in Chicago and being a librarian (and therefore probably being interested in a variety of things) I wouldn't be surprised to learn that your gg-grandparents did go.